Teen Contender

If you follow boxing, you've heard of Claressa Shields. At the 2012 Olympics, she became the first American woman to win gold in boxing. She repeated the feat 4 years later, becoming the first American boxer — woman or otherwise — to win consecutive medals. Now, she's the subject of a new movie called The Fire Inside, tracing her journey to Olympic stardom.Claressa Shields' story was one of our earliest at Radio Diaries. We gave her a tape recorder and asked her to document her journey leading up to the 2012 Olympics. She was sixteen at the time. Today, we revisit the story of Claressa Shields — before the world knew who she was.The Fire Inside comes out exclusively in theaters on Christmas Day. If you liked this story, follow us on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram @radiodiaries! See more stories in our feed and on our website, radiodiaries.org. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices